INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Northeast-10 field hockey champion Saint Anselm has a rematch on the horizon, set to battle conference runner-up Assumption in Saturday's first round of the NCAA championship. The Pace Setters, and 2023 NE10 Player of the Year Krista Dietz, also earned their first selection to the national DII tournament since 2018. The winner of the Saint Anselm and Assumption meeting will advance to face East Stroudsburg.
The championship is set with a six-team tournament, with the top two seeds each earning byes into the semifinals, hosted this year at Saint Anselm in Manchester, NH. At 17-2, East Stroudsburg is the reigning national champion and the No. 1 overall seed in this year's field. The Warriors won the PSAC championship with a pair of overtime wins. No. 2 Shippensburg has won four of the last six titles and Kutztown is the No. 3 seed, facing Pace in the opening round.
Saint Anselm is the most recent NE10 team to advance to the NCAA championship final, falling 2-1 to West Chester in 2019. UMASS Lowell is the last NE10 team to capture the title in both 2005 and 2010.
Saint Anselm has captured both meetings with Assumption this season, winning in the regular season on penalty strokes and in the NE10 Championship by a penalty stroke. Neither Pace nor Kutztown has a record of having a previous meeting listed in their hsitory. Pace does, however, hold a 4-3 win this season over No. 1 East Stroudsburg heading into the tournament.
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 12 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
